Solar power production continues to increase in terms of the number of plants and total plant size. As plant size approaches gigawatt levels, it is increasingly important to be able to predict the power output of the solar plant versus time in order to stabilize the grid. Interruptions in solar output due to weather conditions must be compensated by other forms of power production in order to match the grid supply to the power load.
Therefore, techniques for accurate short and long term solar forecasting would be desirable.